Private Residence Clubs and Luxury Fractional Property

Calistoga Ranch Living: Owning the Napa Valley Dream

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Written by Barbara McHatton

Published: 08 September 2011

Have you ever envisioned owning your very own luxury lodge nestled in the heart of Napa Valley wine country? What if it included access to an indulgent spa, gourmet restaurant and five-star hospitality services? Now fantasize sipping a fine vintage from your own private wine collection stored in an on-site wine cave?

Now imagine that it won't cost a small fortune to make this dream a reality.

Awaken to the possibilities of Calistoga Ranch Living. Giving you unsurpassed luxury features and amenities—at a fraction of the price of whole home ownership—Calistoga Ranch offers members a unique ownership arrangement. Its members are among a select few who share partial ownership of one of 23 beautiful luxury lodges situated on 157 acres of pristine natural landscape. For additional privacy, the resort land is surrounded by a 3,500-acre conservation area that features stunning mountain views, meandering nature trails, bucolic wooded areas and serene lakes.

Incredible Luxury in a Beautiful Setting

Each lodge offers 2,400 to 2,500 square feet of sumptuously appointed living space including two bedroom suites, spacious kitchen, outdoor living/dining room, oversized fireplace and grill, outdoor jetted spa tub, and shower garden. Fine treatments such as granite countertops, luxury linens and rustic wood exteriors are the ideal finishing touches. Because each lodge adheres to the topography of its location, each offers its own unique floor plan.

"It's a very unusual combination of a rustic, natural setting that blends into the surrounding land," says Joshua Dempsey, Director of Real Estate at Calistoga Ranch.

The homes are managed by Auberge Resorts, which also runs the adjacent Calistoga Ranch Resort, a luxury boutique hotel. In addition to meticulously maintaining each lodge, members can take advantage of all the guest services available at the resort including concierge, valet, daily housekeeping and in-lodge catering services. Members are also invited to enjoy The Bathhouse Spa, The Lakehouse Restaurant, state-of-the-art Fitness Center, and outdoor heated pool and jetted spa tub. An on-site wine cave, complete with tasting room and vineyard, round out the fine features of this one-of-a-kind resort.

"Combining the resort's natural setting and one-of-a-kind architecture with the high level of Auberge service creates an ideal home ownership arrangement for our members," Dempsey says. He adds that the staff delivers the finest level of service. "The execution is done very well at Calistoga Ranch," he notes. "Whatever you want, Auberge can make it happen."

Amazing Service

From pre-arrival grocery shopping to arranging a private chef or a hot air balloon ride, the attentive staff takes a casual approach to ensuring each members' and their guests' stays are pleasurable. "Our approach is intuitive," Dempsey claims, "we try to accommodate our guests, but make sure we don't get in the way of their fun."

Much more valuable than a time-share arrangement, Calistoga Ranch Living fractional ownership enables members to invest in an appreciable real estate asset. With no more than 10 owners per residence, members typically enjoy around 40 days per year of blissful, natural living that can be arranged to suit each owner's flexibility.

Calistoga Ranch offers several advantages over other fractional ownership programs. "Because the hotel and residence club share the same clubhouse, pool and staff, it allows us to deliver an extremely high level of service at a much lower cost to the members," Dempsey asserts.

Each ownership interest is priced at $475,000 which includes ownership interest in the lodges as well as the surrounding 157 acres of land. Each owner is also responsible for annual home owner association fees which ran $16,803 in 2011. Additionally, this ownership interest can be sold, transferred, placed in a trust or willed to family members.

A Unique Experience

"We arrange over 100 member events throughout the year, 95 percent of which are at no cost to the membership." Dempsey says. The residence club recently held its annual wine blending party. The vineyard overseer orchestrated the event which invited each team of members to create its own blend of wine. The celebration was capped off by a gourmet dinner held on the event lawn where the winning blend was announced. Additionally, each guest received a magnum of his or her team's blend.

Dempsey attests that one of the best features of Calistoga Ranch Living is the sense of community among its members and staff. "The members get to know each other here," he says. "The owner concierge, Nora Chambers, as well as the 225 staff members on the property all work very hard to create the ideal Napa valley experience."